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something breaks loose

It's Sunday morning, but I am not in church.  I'm on a bus, well on my way to O’Hare airport.  It's the perfect time to breathe God's name.  Matt Redman is leading me in my Sunday morning worship, with the help of my i-pod…  “It’s all about you, Jesus…”  Wow… some little improv words he tosses in near the end of the song…  “every breath we breathe”.  Yes!   There it is again, “with every breath we breathe”  God, those words seem to be just for me, confirming the importance of the breathing prayer!  Of all the songs I could have picked, this one with those perfect powerful words seems like a gift from you!  So, yes, you better believe I am breathing with intentional awareness right now.  I hear His voice urging me to lift my hand toward him as I worship.  “Here, on the bus?”  I’m tempted to ignore the still small voice.  Well, it's kind of dark on the bus, and the seat backs are high, and everyone is off in their own little world.  So I obey.  As my hand goes up, my heart bursts and something breaks loose in my spirit.  It's amazing how powerful a simple gesture of surrender can be.

3 comments (Add your own)

1. Sheila Jenkins wrote:
That is awesome, Chris! God blessed you for your obedience and boldness. And you'll never know who else might have seen you and you witnessed to their spirit.
I wish more people would feel led to raise their hands in church. I'm glad to see several doing it, though, 'cause that never happened before "in the old days" (like, 5 years ago). I never did it, either, until after Brien and I joined CMA...their worship services are FULL of people raising their hands! So I started trying it...and you're right...it's amazing what happens when you surrender...

Fri, April 17, 2009 @ 8:42 PM

2. Sara wrote:
I remember going for a run once my senior year of high school. I had the same experience where I was running along the side of the road, listening to some worship music in my disc man (ha!), and was led to raise my hands. It was SO FREEING; running with my hands in the air. I can still, so vividly, remember the feeling of complete, absolute surrender. Oh God, that we would live our lives in surrender and not just experience moments of it.

Sun, April 19, 2009 @ 2:59 AM

3. Chris wrote:
Oh, I'm with you. More than moments!

I expereinced the most freedom and surrender in Honduras a few years ago. Some Honduran Christians with some STW money purchased a sound system and traveled from town to town providing people with a worship service. These people were dirt poor; they had nothing, and there was nothing exciting to do in this village of 200 people. So the whole town showed up in this field with a couple make shift flood lights and this amazing sound system pumping out Christian Latino music. When poor, desperate people discover the freedom that comes from Jesus, they express it exuberantly with genuine joy. Two hundred Hondurans began to jump and leap and spin with arms and hearts extended to God! Soon this crazy American joined right in!

Mon, April 20, 2009 @ 2:58 PM

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